This invention relates to heating dwellings and other structures by sunlight.
Heating by sunlight has a number of inherent, well-recognized advantages, particularly resulting because solar systems do not generally produce air pollutant nor do they consume any limited natural resource. Typically in solar systems a dark object is placed in a heat-insulative container which admits sunlight. The sun rays are converted to heat by the dark object and are trapped by the insulation.
Where a solar system is not installed for use in an entire building, use of a single unit for a room is desirable as it makes possible the use of solar energy for heating and its consequent advantages. This invention is concerned with units which may be attached to the outside of a building through a conventional window.
Although the construction of a solar collector in assocation with a window or the like is known in the prior art, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 246,626 to Morse and 2,931,578 to Thompson, no prior art is known employing a heat-storage section in such a unit. A heat-storage section is a basic element of the instant invention. Consequently, the known prior art is believed to be relevant only in the most general sense. The foregoing patent to Morse is the most relevant in that it shows a wall collector unit having hinged covers which may be positioned to direct air from the interior to or from the outside of the building or to circulate air through the collector and back to the interior.